


Welcome to the Jungle

by Marvinetta



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-17
Updated: 2011-11-17
Packaged: 2017-10-26 04:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/278656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvinetta/pseuds/Marvinetta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for mercscilla's November prompt: <i><a href="http://terranovafanfic.livejournal.com/13367.html?thread=169271#t169271">After 118 days alone in the primeval jungle, the one person, the one who should have been right next to him when he stepped through the gate, not two steps behind him, comes through. Wash meets primeval!Taylor after she arrives 85 miilion years in the past.</a></i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome to the Jungle

**Author's Note:**

> First story in this fandom. Many thanks to Crystal for the beta services and hand holding.

Something was wrong, and Alicia Washington felt it the minute she was through the portal. Of course, having four months to sit and worry hadn't helped while the scientists figured out why it had shut off after Nathaniel Taylor had gone through. She didn't know if he was alive or dead. The thought that if something ate him she might never know had been driving her crazy.

Once she was through though, she knew he was alive. There were markers around the portal area that showed he'd been checking back. Marks on the trees, underbrush cleared out, a fire pit. But there was no sign of the Commander himself. Several of her unit materialized behind her, and they took a few moments to get oriented in the new atmosphere.

“I'm going to scout around. No one leave until I get back. Keep your eyes and ears open.” Alicia dropped the bulk of her gear and grabbed the bare essentials. With a canteen and extra ammo, she started off towards the sound of running water. She could hear her men discussing the jungle and setting up a camp as she inched into the dense foliage, but soon it was only a murmur as the sounds of the jungle overwhelmed her.

“Commander?” Alicia found another fire pit closer to the river. It had been used more recently. There were small bones mixed in with the ashes. She toed at the rocks idly while she debated her next move. “Well at least you haven't starved to death.”

A sound across the river got her attention. Raising her weapon, she walked along the bank of the river, trying to figure out what was moving around on the other side. It didn't sound large, but then again from the multiple briefings they'd received, it didn't take something large to kill you out here.

“Commander? It's Wash. Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bitch.” The movement stopped. Inching closer to the edge of the water, Alicia noticed a sand bar and small rocks that formed a path across. “Sir? I'm coming over. At least I hope it's you I'm talking to. Might be awkward if I try to give a dinosaur an ammo clip.”

She heard a noise that could almost pass for laughter. The small movements in the brush started again. Just as she finished crossing the river, Alicia looked up to find eyes staring at her from the jungle. Her first thought was to scan the information she'd been overloaded with to remember if cavemen were around in this time period, and her second thought was that Taylor didn't seem to care she was there. He gave her a once over, and then walked towards the river without a backwards glance.

“Sir?” Alicia followed at a safe distance, checking him over for injuries. Other than a beard, hair that looked like something was nesting in it, and a thick coating of muck everywhere, he seemed to be in one piece. “Sir we've set up a camp near the portal. I'd like to get a medic to check you over.”

“I told you last time, go away.” His voice was rougher than normal, like he hadn't been using it a lot. He turned his back on her, and sharpened a spear in his hand as he surveyed the water.

“Commander, you're starting to worry me.” Lowering her weapon, Alicia moved a bit closer so that she was in his periphery vision. “The rest of the unit is back at the portal site. We've got a medic waiting for you.”

“You know what pisses me off the most about every time you or Iyanni show up?” He finally turned and looked her, a mixture of annoyance and sadness on his face. “You never want to talk about anything fun. Just nag at me. ‘You look like hell, do you have something living in that beard, you smell like dinosaur shit.' You could at least dress up for me.”

“Sir, I assure you I'm real this time.” Not really knowing how to take the news he'd been having hallucinations, she inched closer. She reached out a hand and was intending to rest her fingers on his arm when he spun around and knocked her legs out from underneath her. The air rushed out of her lungs and she wanted to tell him he really did smell like dinosaur shit, but she was having trouble breathing with his arm across her throat.

“Wash?” The surprise in his voice would have been funny if he wasn't slowly strangling her. “You feel real.”

He lessened his grip on her throat by a tiny amount, and she took in a deep breath before heaving her entire body to dislodge him. He'd obviously been taking care of himself because he was still a solid weight and only grunted before slamming her back into the ground.

“How do I know I'm not finally cracked? You feel real enough, but-” He trailed off and stared at her intently. His eyes were sharp, but the hint of insanity was starting to scare her. “Are you sure you're real this time? I'm getting really tired of baring my soul to you and you just disappearing back into the jungle.”

“Real.” She could barely squeak out the word. His expression softened a fraction, and Alicia took the opportunity to try and buck him off again. He grunted as her elbow connected with his shoulder and he slammed his weight down, this time trapping her arms more securely. She could feel her ribs protesting against the rocks under her, and wondered if a few where already cracked.

“Then why are you fighting me?” He sounded offended. She couldn't help but try bark out a laugh.

“Air-” Alicia whispered the word even as she felt her vision blurring from both pain and lack of oxygen. His arm disappeared from her throat and suddenly his weight was gone. Rolling to her side, she coughed for a few seconds and then started feeling her sides to see if anything was broken.

“Shit, Wash. I'm sorry. I thought - “ Taylor's voice was moving behind her, and suddenly he was kneeling next to her, with her canteen. “I don't know what I thought.”

“It's all good, sir.” She let him help her into a sitting position and only protested half-heartedly as he ran his hands down her back and sides. “Nothing's broken, I already checked.”

“Like you've never lied about being injured before.” His voice sounded more normal. The crazed tone was being pushed out by his commanding officer voice. He pushed her hair off her face and stared at her like she was going to disappear at any second. She lowered her eyes to her canteen, suddenly uncomfortable.

“I had a good teacher.” She lifted a corner of her mouth before drinking from the canteen.

“So you're really here, and you really have people at the portal?” When he sat down, he was so close they were pressed together from shoulder to thigh. Alicia wondered just how close to crazy he'd gotten. He jumped a little when she rested her hand on his knee lightly.

“I'm sorry it took us so long to get here, sir.” She stared at his face now that he wasn't a threat. “You look like hell.”

“I feel worse, trust me.” Taylor barked out another rough laugh.

“You can't feel worse than you smell.” She wrinkled her nose as she realized he'd transferred a lot of the muck he was covered in to her. “And now I smell like shit, too.”

“It's good to see you, Wash. The real you.” The tone in Taylor's voice made her look up from where she'd been inspecting the disgusting mixture of mud and dinosaur dung clinging to her shirt. She swallowed hard and nodded, not knowing what to say. He stood up and held out a hand to help her up. “Let's go sneak up on your guys and see if they can see us before we get into camp.”

“I think they're going to smell us long before they see us.” She sighed and followed him across the sand bar back towards the portal site. “And for the record, you do look like something might be living in that beard.”

“I don't know. I kinda like it.” He rubbed at his face. Alicia grimaced as leaves and a chunk of mud fell off. “Maybe I'll keep it.”

“At least clean out the wildlife. You don't want to scare off new recruits.” Alicia worried she'd taken the joke too far when Taylor suddenly turned around and gave her another intense stare. “Sir?”

Without a word he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. For a moment, she did nothing but breath. His arms tightened and he pressed his face into her hair.

“I thought I was going to go crazy out here.” His voice was steady, but Alicia could feel a slight tremor go through his body. She wrapped her arms tentatively around his waist. “I keep thinking you're going to disappear again.”

“Don't worry, sir.” Trying to keep her voice steady, she rested her chin on his shoulder. “I'm not going anywhere.”


End file.
